Achieving Flow in Construction

Achieving Flow in Construction

Here’s the message I want to share: how do we achieve flow in construction without hurting people, or basically do it with respect for people? Because if we focus only on value-receiving time (the zones getting work done fast), we violate the rules of flow and hurt people. And if we focus only on value-adding time (the trades working at full capacity), we create delays and waste. Flow in construction requires both. And we must start with respect for people first, then optimize the work.

Let me explain.

The Pain of Focusing on Value-Receiving Time Only

If you’re familiar with the amazing work of Nicholas Modig and Pär Åhlström, you’ll remember the framework in the book This Is Lean. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend you do. It’s fantastic. So I want to paint a picture here. If we focus on value-receiving time as the priority in construction, I want to talk about what that does.

In the book This Is Lean, there is an example where Sarah feels a lump in her breast, and there’s a one-stop breast clinic, and there are enough doctors and care workers to where Sarah can come in from first contact in two and a half hours and have a diagnosis. Now this is great. Everybody would want this. But there’s another side to the story, and I want to say that if we adapt the resources to the patient so that we always get care like this, I have some serious questions that I want to ask.

Number one: Is the clinic profitable doing it this way and having this many resources available? Is the staff working overtime? Is the staff stressed? Are they overburdened? Are they doing quality work within that two and a half hours with time for checks and gates—gates in a flow system where we can actually check the quality of the work? And are there buffers, not only to protect the staff, but to actually help movement through the clinic?

And so these are some serious questions that I want us to consider when we’re understanding this analogy.

Now, Nicholas was gracious enough to do a LinkedIn post where he had proposed the question: Is a GoPro on the actual flat in the construction site useful? And so I would like to answer the question: What happens if you view the film camera on the zone only and focus on value-receiving time for the zone or the unit?

And I’ve gone ahead and mapped this out. This is in the extreme, so don’t take this too far. But if we were focused on value-receiving time only throughout the zones on a construction project, we would have time on the top, location on the left, and every zone would be worked on continuously, which means you would either have to have multiple trade partners, or you’d have to, hypothetically, have 2,340 plumbers all at once.

And it’s not realistic, because the questions in construction are: Do we have unlimited resources? Can we supply the project that fast? Can it be managed? Can we maintain quality? And is it safe? These are legitimate questions, let alone considering the downward productivity spiral of focusing on value-receiving time only, where, instead of having that stack, if you at least have one resource with a lot of actual labor, you are going to extend your overall project duration, because the job site cannot take that many people, that many workers, and fit that many people into that space, and you’ll have a massive overrun.

So the answer to “Do we have unlimited resources?” is no. “Can we supply the project that fast?” That’s no. “Can it be managed?” No. “Can you maintain quality?” No. “Is it safe?” No. And if we did this hypothetically, it would be just as bad as CPM, because we have massive overruns from increasing work in progress above capacity, and now we’ve entered into a downward productivity spiral.

How We Violate the Rules of Flow

Okay, so when we add excess labor, throw money at the problem, increase WIP above capacity, bring materials too early and outside of just-in-time, or push, rush, and panic, we violate the rules of flow. These rules of flow are pretty well known. In my mind, it’s in the book Goldratt’s Rules of Flow, and it’s based on the work that Eliyahu Goldratt has done with his book The Goal and the theory of constraints, and then also Critical Chain.

Here are the rules of flow:

• Triage and focus on first things first eliminate bad multitasking
• Work only on full kit everything is prepared before starting
• Adjust the dosage of attention and energy toward one-piece flow
• Segregate large and small activities
• Standardize work and synchronize on Takt time
• Add buffers into the system to protect flow

If we were to increase work in progress above capacity, we would violate the rules of flow. So that extreme doesn’t work, at least in my mind.

The Pain of Focusing on Value-Adding Time Only

Now let’s look at value-adding time. If we focus only on value-adding time, let’s take a look at what that does. In the book This Is Lean by Nicholas Modig and Pär Åhlström, I’m sure I’m saying that last name improperly, I apologize, but in the book, the story goes like this. Allison thinks she has cancer, and from first contact to diagnosis, the system takes several months, because she goes in and is told to wait. She goes in to the next step and is told to wait. Basically, we have the resource here, and the doctors or the care providers really filling up their schedules, which extends the timeline of the diagnosis for Allison.

The concerns here with this multitasking and batching is that there are delays, bad care, more costs, waste and unevenness, and mistakes from context switching. This is bad. So let’s look at it in construction. What happens when you put the film camera only on the trade crew, meaning look at it myopically from one trade’s perspective?

Well, doing the value-adding time only, and again, I would say with multitasking and batching, means that every trade partner in this same framework is going at their own speed, irrespective of what’s needed for the job, and you still have an overrun. This is a focus on individual trade efficiency only, where they’re going their own speed, and they’re not fitting into the whole. We’re not optimizing the whole. And so that’s not great.

Flow Requires Both Value-Adding and Value-Receiving Time

So let’s look at value-adding and value-receiving time together. And the reason that we want to look at this, and this is, by the way, what the book suggests, so this is a shout-out to This Is Lean: construction is a balance between the demands of the customer and the supply of trade partner experts and resources. And Todd Zabelle makes this case in the book Built to Fail and does a really nice job of it. It has to be both.

Okay, so let’s take a look at it. So if we were going to actually add a construction section in the book This Is Lean, maybe one day this will happen where you have an analogy, I think it would be good to put in a vet clinic with lots of different types of animals, lots of different types of treatment, right? And you have many of them, so many species, all in need of healthcare for checkups, vaccines, maternal care, injuries, and various illnesses.

So here are some questions: How can we create the shortest treatment time and accommodate many flow units while not overburdening the staff with the highest quality at the lowest overall total cost? And you’ll see that I put a film camera on the patient, the animal, and the resources, the vet clinic. And only, in my opinion, by merging both can we really get a good flow.

And so as it turns out, we have been able to figure this out in construction quite well. And that’s where, if you see the phase of construction and the train of trades, meaning trade one, two, three, four, five, if you have the film camera on the actual phase, not the zone, and you have the camera on the train of trades, and you put the camera on the train of trades and on the phase to make a complete view of the phase, then you have a complete picture. And I think that’s brilliant.

We do that all the time, and it’s with Takt planning. And so if you plan that way, where you have really good flow within the zone in the phase, and you have good flow of the train of trades in the diagonal with buffers, even if you have delays, you can still finish on time and really accomplish a nice construction project without ever going into a downward productivity spiral. This is genius. So this is flow. We do it all the time.

What Is Flow in Construction?

So flow in construction is the density of value-receiving time from the perspective of the value-receiving unit in relation to the overall throughput time by creating ideal flow and proper leveling of value-adding resources and people. And I want to stress that last part.

And so when we have a good flow of resources with the trades, then what we do is we take all of these different trade partners going different speeds, and we line them up: first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and we flow them through the project. So now we have zones in the phase receiving value, but we have enabled a flow with the value-adding unit. You only get the construction project done as fast as the trades can flow.

So the train is going the same direction, moving in the right sequence, going the same speed through level zones, going the same distance apart, aligned with supply chains, with no multitasking and batching, working with as little overburden, unevenness, and waste as possible. So this is what the flow looks like.

So we have it to the point of Nicholas’s original post, which I want to support. You have value-receiving time within the zone inside the phase, but you also have resource and trade flow. You have value-adding time, and we maintain that flow. Okay, so this is a genius way to look at it. We get the best scenario when we have both. And he talks about that all the time.

The Best Path to Achieve Flow in Construction

So instead of resource efficiency on the left and flow efficiency on the horizontal axis, I think it should be resource efficiency and work efficiency. If you don’t have either, you have waste. If you have mostly resource efficiency, you have bad customer service. If you have only work efficiency at the expense of people, you have disrespect for people and resources. This is what I want to caution construction against. But if you have high resource efficiency and work efficiency, then you have flow. And that’s the way I would like to look at it.

Now here’s the warning for us in the USA specifically, and I don’t know about other countries. But if you prioritize work efficiency first, you’re like, “Hey, we’re going to focus on the work, and then we’ll take care of people later,” you will not be able to achieve any of it, because in the USA, we have a tendency of prioritizing profits over people. And if somebody comes over here and abuses people, they never move up to taking care of people.

And people are like, “Wait a minute. What does taking care of people have to do with resource efficiency?” You cannot be resource efficient unless you’re respecting the equipment, the trade partner, the foreman, the workers, and the people that are installing the work.

And so what I would rather have us do is see us protect our people and become a little bit more resource efficient first. Take care of the equipment. Take care of the trade. Take care of the foreman. Take care of the workers. Take care of their flow. Take care of people. Be a little bit selfish with holding that trade flow and remove their overburden first. And then it’s easy to see how we can work towards flow efficiency with Lean practices and optimization. So this is definitely the path we need to take in construction. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

The Reality of What’s Happening in the Construction Industry

Now to prove my point, let me answer the question: Is this just some posturing for the subs and likes on LinkedIn? Well, no. In 2021 in the United States, 6,000 men died from suicide. 1,000 died from work-related injuries. Suicide rates for men in construction are 75 percent higher than men in the general population. Owners abuse contractors. Disrespect for workers is rampant. And we lose production primarily from too much work in progress.

To be truly Lean, we need to understand human nature and create solutions that protect people. Now, real quick, while we’re on this slide, this has been studied. There is a direct correlation between workers being stacked and pushed and overburdened, to then them getting injuries in unsafe environments, to then using opioids, to then leading to opioid addictions, to then having marital problems, which leads to divorce, which leads to child custody battles, which leads to financial difficulties.

And when you add mobile workforce, typically working shifts and overtime in very harsh environments, and with people who have access to lethal means, you can see why the suicide rate in construction is around 53 per 100,000, over veterans, which is about 38 per 100,000, and it’s five times as much as the national average, which is 11 per 100,000.

And the overburden and the injuries in the first place come from when we push and rush and panic, increase work overtime, add people, and we’re doing really crazy things and focusing only on work efficiency. These are all tied together, and it’s a very, very serious thing. So if we only focus on work or put the camera on the zone, we will be as bad as classical management and CPM, and we cannot do that.

Here’s what happens when we focus on work efficiency at the expense of people:

• Workers get stacked, pushed, overburdened
• Injuries happen in unsafe environments
• Opioid use starts to manage pain
• Opioid addiction develops
• Marital problems and divorce follow
• Child custody battles and financial difficulties compound
• Mobile workforce, shifts, overtime, harsh environments, access to lethal means
• Suicide rates 53 per 100,000 in construction vs. 11 per 100,000 national average

This is not just theory. This is reality. And if we only focus on work efficiency without protecting people first, we create this spiral. We cannot do that.

A Challenge for Leaders

Here’s what I want you to do this week. Put the camera on the train of trades and the phase together. Not just the zone. Not just the trades. Both. Create flow by balancing value-receiving time and value-adding time. And start with respect for people first. Protect the equipment. Protect the trade. Protect the foreman. Protect the workers. Remove their overburden. Then optimize the work.

As we say at Elevate, flow in construction requires both value-receiving time and value-adding time. Focus on people first, then optimize work. That’s how you achieve flow without hurting people.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is flow in construction?

Flow is balancing value-receiving time (zones getting work) and value-adding time (trades flowing) to create smooth throughput without overburdening people or creating waste.

Why can’t we just focus on value-receiving time (getting zones done fast)?

Because you’d need unlimited resources, create massive coordination chaos, and enter a downward productivity spiral. The job site can’t handle that many workers simultaneously.

Why can’t we just focus on value-adding time (keeping trades at full capacity)?

Because trades go at their own speed irrespective of the job’s needs, creating delays, waste, unevenness, and mistakes from context switching instead of optimizing the whole.

What’s the best path to achieve flow in construction?

Start with resource efficiency (protect people first), then move toward work efficiency (optimize the work). Don’t start with work efficiency at the expense of people.

Why does focusing on work efficiency first hurt people?

Because it creates overburden, injuries, opioid use, marital problems, and suicide. Construction suicide rates are 53 per 100,000 vs. 11 per 100,000 national average.